


Contrast

by Shoulderpads



Series: Exit the Void [2]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Food Issues, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Post-Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 08:13:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19390090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shoulderpads/pseuds/Shoulderpads
Summary: Sora’s friends throw a party for his return.Vanitas sits on a sofa and waits for confrontation.





	Contrast

**Author's Note:**

> Ok here it is folks! The follow up! This was a really exhausting one to write. Usually I work in large bursts but this was a slow trickle. I also had to do some research in order to write some of the characters well so that took some time too.
> 
> EDIT: I forgot to mention!!! I’m retconning the part in part 2 where Vanitas has yellow eyes. I’ve seen the light, and his eyes are red

“How do you like your eggs, Vanitas?” Kumo asked from the kitchen. 

Vanitas shrugged, tapping on the wood of the dining room table. “Probably whatever way Sora likes them.” He said flatly. 

“Scrambled then.” Kumo cracked eggs into a bowl and began whisking. 

He didn’t know eggs could have different cooked forms. He’d seen pictures of them as white circles with yellow in the middle, but the times he’d had to himself, unaccounted for, where he’d slipped into a store to try some food he’d never had with stolen munny, he’d never purchased any. Xehanort never brought him eggs. 

Kumo came back to the table with a plate of yellow mush that she set in front of Vanitas, her own plate looked more like the cartoon drawings he’d seen, and she put an identical plate to his at the seat across him. 

“If that boy insists on sleeping in, his breakfast will get cold.” Kumo shook her head and walked back into the kitchen. 

Vanitas made a sound almost like a laugh. 

Kumo brought bowls on her second trip. When she set them down, Vanitas could tell it was some sort of porridge. It looked a lot like the stuff Xehanort brought him but less watery and with a swirl of brown specs on top. Still, it looked too similar and the thought of eating it made his throat close up. 

“You don’t like oatmeal?” Kumo asked, cocking her head just like Sora. 

“I...uh.” He floundered for an excuse. “It’s...bland...?”

She nodded. “Only if you don’t flavor it. This is my own cinnamon recipe.”

Vanitas furrowed his brow. Cinnamon didn’t sound familiar. 

“Give it a try,” Kumo urged softly. 

He didn’t understand her and that gentle smile, but he also didn’t want to offend her and have it taken away, so he scooped a small amount onto his spoon and slid it into his mouth. 

The taste was distinctly different, sweet with a woody kick. That was good. But the texture. It wasn’t quite the same, it was firmer, but the soft, lumpy slime that coated his mouth struggled to down his throat as it clamped around memories of the shitty porridge his master gave him. He shoved the spoon into the bowl with a clatter (another difference he tried to focus on, it wasn’t his dusty fingers) and shoved it away with a shake of his head. 

Kumo picked up the bowl and walked it back to the kitchen. “That’s ok, Vanitas.”

“The, the taste is good, but...” he trailed off. 

“It’s ok,” she repeated. 

He blinked and stabbed into the eggs instead. They tasted much better, if not a little boring, at least compared to the food in Shibuya. Speaking of which, it seemed familiar. “Oh. I’ve had this. These are the little yellow bits in that rice we got sometimes.”

“Yeah, it’s in rice sometimes. Scrambled eggs on their own taste better with pepper though.”

Vanitas didn’t say anything. 

“Sora likes pepper in his,” Kumo continued, “You could try some of his to see.”

“Yeah ok.”

It did taste better, more interesting anyway. He ground perhaps an unhealthy amount of it on his own. 

The stairs creaked then. Sora greeted them with a yawn, gummiphone in hand. 

“Good morning, Sora,” Kumo greeted. Her tone sounded level but her eyes still shown with the awe she wore yesterday. 

“G’morning.” He rubbed an eye. “Oh Vanitas, you didn’t leave after all.”

Vanitas scoffed. “Not like I have plans anyway,” he grumbled. 

Sora turned back to his mother. “By the way, I texted Riku and Kairi when I woke up.” Vanitas watched Kumo lift an eyebrow at the word ‘texted.’ “So they’ll probably be here soo-“

The lock on the door turned itself and burst open, Riku and Kairi tumbling through. Sparkles of a dismissed Keyblade floated into the air. 

“Sora!” They cried at the same time, rushing forward and bowled him over. His gummiphone clattered on the hardwood. 

Vanitas watched them crush Sora to their chests in a tangle of limbs. He watched tears roll down Kairi’s crystalline eyes, her hands framing Sora’s face, laughter bubbling brokenly from her throat. He watched Riku bury his face in Sora’s hair, his shoulders shaking, hand fisted in the back of Sora’s night shirt. 

“Don’t you ever do that again!” Kairi tried to chide, but her stern expression wobbled. “I didn’t give you a charm to promise on this time.”

“You gave me more than a charm,” Sora whispered, smoothing down her hair. 

“I couldn’t feel you.” Riku shook his head. “I couldn’t sense your dreams. I-I don’t-“

Sora laced their fingers and cradled Kairi’s forehead to his shoulder while he warbled over and over apologies and promises everyone in the room knew he couldn’t keep. 

They really cared for each other, Vanitas realized. Which of course was so obviously true if spending even a day with Sora had anything to say about it. But they cared for each other so achingly, as if they didn’t exist without the presence of each other, as if they were limbs of a greater being. They cared for each other the way Ventus, Terra, and Aqua did. It was weakness and it was pitiful, and yet, he had to cast his eyes away from its brilliance. He stabbed into his eggs as Sora curled into his dearest friends. 

One eternity later, Riku turned his face to the side, cheek resting in soaked hair. His eyes locked with Vanitas’s. And to his credit, Riku didn’t drop into a battle stance or snarl. He simply detangled himself from his friends and rolled to his feet with the grace he’d only ever seen on Aqua before. He did point though. 

“Hey, is that Vanitas? What’s he doing in your house?” Riku asked. 

“Oh!” Kairi looked up, face not betraying anything but neutral surprise. 

In fact, the most nervous person in the room seemed to be Sora as he jumped to his feet, one hand rubbing the back of his head. “R-right! He’s, um, staying here.” When his friends blinked slowly, his other hand stirred through the air and his voice picked up speed. “Because he helped me get back here, or rather we both helped each other, and now he has nowhere to go, so I thought yknow why not...here.” He shrugged. 

Kairi recovered quickly. “Ok!” she said, sticking a hand out. “I’m Kairi, I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“I know who you are.” Vanitas didn’t move, just examined the girl Xehanort found so important. Her posture held some stiffness, and her eyebrows were up a little too high in her attempts to appear friendly, but her eyes held no lies.

“Right.” said Riku before turning back to Sora. “Who else knows you’re here?”

Sora’s eyes widened. “I told you guys first of course! Well, after my mom. So, no one outside of this room. I didn’t even cross paths with anyone in town.”

“And about Vanitas?” 

“Just you guys.”

Riku nodded. “Are you planning to keep this a secret?”

“Hey!” Vanitas piped up, “Quit acting like I’m some stray dog he found. Me being around is my secret to tell or not tell and there isn’t a force in the worlds that could keep me secret if I didn’t want it.”

Riku let out a long sigh. “Ok, fine. Are _you_ going to keep yourself a secret?”

Vanitas glared. “Haven’t decided yet.”

“We’re just not sure if it would be a good idea,” Sora cut in. “After all...yknow...”

“Yeah, Aqua would want his head on a stick,” Riku said.

“I’d like to see her t-“

“So I was thinking,” Sora cut Vanitas off, “maybe we start small. Like with Ven. He deserves to know, doesn’t he?” Sora asked him. 

“You’ve already started off with them.” Vanitas pointed his fork at Riku and Kairi. “Since you’d explode if you waited a second longer to contact them. And they materialized outside of your house.”

“Hey that’s not fair!” Kairi’s boot clicked on the hardwood. “We thought he was dead! Gone forever!”

“I don’t know how you could ever assume such a thing.”

“And I already felt bad for not calling them last night!” Sora pouted. 

Vanitas rolled his eyes. “Whatever, I guess I should be grateful we aren’t fighting right now.”

“Well, you don’t smell like Xehanort’s brand of darkness,” Riku said

“I don’t _what_ -“

“And you’re eating scrambled eggs with Sora’s mom, hi, by the way.” Riku grinned at her. 

Sora’s mom smiled brightly back. 

“Yeah, ok, forget it. Tell Ventus, sure. Idiot probably knows I’m back anyway.”

“Hey, be nice.” Sora crosses his arms. 

“No.”

Kairi clapped her hands together, gathering everyone’s attention. “I think we should throw a party! There was one celebrating our victory while we were gone, Sora, but now we can have one celebrating you coming home with all our friends! And you can tell Ven then!”

“I’m not going to some party,” Vanitas scoffed. 

“Oh, well, I mean, I didn’t,” Kairi faltered. 

“Wasn’t going to be invited anyway, got it.” He shoved a forkful is egg in his mouth. 

“That’s not what I-“

“I think that’s a wonderful idea, Kairi,” said Kumo, “Easy to tell everyone all together and let them have a turn crushing Sora’s ribs. Vanitas and I can make our own fun here.”

Vanitas sneered. 

—

Sora shuffled his feet in the sand and gripped his phone in both hands maybe a little too hard. He’d messaged the King not too long ago about being evidently not dead and to gather up their friends. Mickey had only responded with an immediate “omw.” 

The gummi ship entered the atmosphere, rustling the leaves and blowing Sora’s hair back. Before it even touched down, the ramp lowered and Roxas jumped out. His feet hit the sand and then he was moving, running towards Sora. Sora has excepted Donald and Goofy to tackle him long before Roxas even drew near, but he couldn’t complain. It was actually...nice seeing him so riled up, and Sora could wait to get to know his other for real, like people should, face to face and corporeal. 

But as Roxas drew closer, Sora could see the set of his jaw and the burning rage in his eyes. 

“Roxas...?”

Roxas’s closed the distance with his knuckles crashing against Sora’s cheek. He stumbled with the impact, eyes wide, but Roxas’s other hand shot out and snatched Sora’s shirt and pulling him up from his fall so that they stared each other down nose to nose. 

“ _Fuck you_.” Roxas hissed. 

Distantly, Sora thought he heard Riku shout, “Hey!”

“R-“

“Do you have any idea what you did to everyone, to me?”

“I-“

Roxas cut him off again. “I felt you _die_ , Sora. And so did Xion. And so did Ventus. And it _hurt_. I don’t know how bad it hurt them, but I thought I was going to die too, and Xion cried.”

When Sora tugged, Roxas’s arm relaxed just enough to see that now Roxas was crying. The hand balled in Sora’s shirt trembled. 

“I’m sorry,” Sora breathed, “I didn’t want to hurt anyone, that’s the opposite of what I was trying to do.” He wrapped his hands around Roxas’s wrist. 

“You’re really the dumber one if you think leaving wouldn’t hurt all of us.” Roxas sniffed and pulled Sora into a hug. “I missed you.”

Sora returned the embrace. “This is nice. I’m glad we can have this.”

“We almost didn’t.”

“But we do. It’s nice to see you outside of a fight.”

Roxas pulled away and clapped Sora’s upper arm with a grin. “Likewise.”

“Outta the way!” 

A grating voice shoved Roxas to the side and Sora’s feet lifted off the ground in a crushing hug that spun him around. 

“Sora!”

He came back to his senses from the sudden impact. “Donald! Goofy!” He fell to his knees, dragging Goofy down with him, so he could hug Donald too. “I missed you guys!”

“Awwwww, we missed you too.” Donald squeezed Sora’s shoulder. 

“Yeah! Hasn’t been the same without a third of our whole pint!” 

“Oh, thanks! I’m a third pint now?” Sora laughed. 

“Nah, this big palooka just doesn’t know math,” Donald snickered. 

Goofy just smiled. 

Sora held them tight, basking in the warmth of the trinity. As much as he enjoyed getting to know Vanitas and making a dent in his walls, and as much as he missed his other friends, exploring just wasn’t the same without Donald and Goofy to back him up. 

“Yo, Sora! Do you have a cooler?”

Sora looked up from his embrace to see Lea towering there with a plastic bag hanging off his lifted wrist and new clothes. That was a nice change of pace. 

“Uh, yeah.” Sora pulled away from Donald and Goofy and dusted the sand off his knees. “We brought one with drinks.”

“Nice.” Lea reached down and hoisted Roxas up by his elbow. “Almost didn’t have time to pick anything up, because somebody was eager to see you. And punch you apparently.”

“Sorry.” Roxas toed the sand. 

Sora waved him off. “Don’t sweat it!”

“Don’t you people ever eat anything else?” Donald crossed his arms. 

“Blame your uncle for introducing me.” Lea stuck out his tongue, brushing past the duck and towards the cooler. “Good to have you back, man.” He smiled at Sora, genuine and warm. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks.”

“Why don’t you practice your blizzard on the cooler?” Kairi jeered as he neared. 

“Show me a perfect strike raid, and maybe we’ll talk.” He lightly shoved her away with a hand to the face. Which she promptly licked in classic Kairi fashion, eliciting a disgusted shriek. 

Sora laughed and turned away, almost bumping his nose into Xion’s face. He jumped away, shoulders touching his ears. “Geez, warn a guy.” 

“Oh, sorry!” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. 

“It’s ok, Xion.”

She beamed at him and rushed forward to hug him. It was a fleeting moment before she pulled back, but it was crushing and joyful. 

“I wanted to say thank you, for helping me out back there...I wasn’t thinking straight.” She rubbed at one of her eyes. “You helped me see the light.”

“Of course! Anything for a friend.” He grinned. 

“A friend,” she repeated, expression softening. 

Sora noticed she too had a new set of clothes, black coats were officially out of season then. “I like your new look,” he said. “Very you.”

“You think so?” She played with the edges of her skirt. “Oh right!” She looked up wide eyed before digging in her pocket and producing a netted bag full of thalassa shells. “These are for you!”

“Oh...huh thanks.” Sora let her place it in his hands though he stared at it unsure. Thalassa shells littered the islands. He’d picked up plenty over the years. 

“Back in the Organization, sometimes...Roxas or I would fall ill and sleep for awhile.” She fiddled with the buttons of her blouse. “So, we’d get each other shells. It’s a way to say I was thinking of you while you were gone. There’s one for each day.”

Sora’s fingers tightened around the bag, touched. “Thank you, Xion. I’ll cherish these.” 

She flashed a grin at him and went to join her friends who argued over the configuration of the cooler. 

Hayner, Pence, and Olette came up to Sora next, talking over one another, excitedly. 

“Hey guys,” Sora said, cutting them off. “Finally having that beach day?”

“Oh we’ve been here,” Pence answered. 

“But now it’s a beach day with you!” Hayner continued. 

“So now you’ve gotta join all of us on the clock tower sometime.” Olette waggled a finger at him. 

“It’s a date!” Sora shot them a thumbs up. 

The three cheered, clapped him on the shoulders and ran off towards Roxas and Xion. Sora watched his friends chatter and laugh. It warmed his heart to see so many of them together on the island he grew up playing on. He always believed and worked towards this, but to be able to see it with his own eyes? He blinked a few times. 

“Hiya, Sora! I knew we’d be seein’ ya real soon!” Mickey laughed, having strolled out of the ship. 

“Oh, Your Majesty!” Sora stood a little taller. “So, heh, you weren’t worried?” He swiped under his nose. 

Mickey shook his head. “Nah, you’re strong. I missed you, but I knew you’d come back. If I was worried about anyone it was Riku,” he laughed. “We had a hard time stopping him from doing something reckless.”

“I’m right here,” Riku huffed, having not strayed far from Sora. 

“Aw, we never blamed you for it, pal.”

Sora let them talk and turned when something else caught his eye. Namine stood off to the side drilling a hole in the sand with her toes and holding her elbow. 

“Namine!” Sora called and ran up to her. “The replica worked!”

She looked away, a sad smile twitching the corner of her lips. “Yes, it did.”

“That’s great, I’m really happy you’re here!” He took both her hands in his. 

She snapped her attention back on him fully. 

“You ready?” He asked. 

She opened her mouth as if to ask a question, but shut it, understanding setting in her eyes and she nodded. 

“Ok.” Sora inhaled. “Thank you, Namine.” 

She grinned, soft and gentle. “You’re welcome.”

He grinned back, elated and cheerful. “Sorry for keeping you waiting on that one.”

“It’s ok, what matters is that’s you’re here now and ok.” She clasped her hands in front of her chest. 

“Yeah and you too!”

Her eyes twinkled with joy. Xion called her. She waved, but didn’t join them just yet. “Isa’s here too, but I think he’s worried you’ll hate him or something.”

“He was pretty mean, but I wouldn’t hate him...” Sora turned his head towards the gummi ship to see Isa there, leaning against the hull with crosses arms. 

Their eyes met and, Isa’s eyes shown brilliant green, much more lively than last they met. Sora waved at him. Isa simply raised a hand in greeting, face tucking into the neck of his new jacket. 

Another ship landed next to the first, whipping around Isa’s hair. When the door opened, a torrent of people poured from it. Sora quickly recognized his friends from Radiant Garden and opened his arms as Namine jumped away from the approaching crowd and made her way to Xion. 

Yuffie made it to Sora first, practically jumping into his arms. Sora stumbled back. She may have been skinny, but it was all muscle. “Sora! Man, have I missed you! I feel like I’m gonna hurl, but I’m so glad to see you!”

Sora laughed. “Please try not to, but I’m happy to see you too.”

She punched his arm playfully. “I won’t. But next time, how about you come visit us, not the other way around.”

“And the next time there’s trouble, you come to us too.” Leon’s hands settled on Sora’s shoulders. He looked tired, but relieved. “When we heard what happened, that you were gone, I...I wish I’d been there. I wish we could’ve helped.”

“Everything happened so fast. I wish I could’ve visited too, and then after Xehanort...I couldn’t sit around.”

Leon pulled him in for a quick hug. “I know you’re going to say there won’t be a next time, but if there is, remember you aren’t alone, and not to act rashly.” 

“Yeah, why’d you go off and do that?” Cloud appeared next to Leon. His eyes searched Sora as if he’d find the answers written out there. 

Sora smiled sadly, feeling the weight of two years’ effort on his shoulders. “I had to find my light,” he whispered. “You understand.” 

Cloud nodded once. “I do. I’m happy you found yours.”

Sora tilted his head. “You don’t look happy.” 

“I’ve been told I have ‘resting bitch face.’” Cloud’s gaze averted. 

“That’s ok. How bout that rematch then?” 

Cloud shook his head. “Still not interested.” And Sora felt a thrum of excitement at the small smile Cloud graced him. 

“Alright boys, stop picking on him.” Tifa pushed Leon and Cloud aside. 

“We weren’t-“ Leon started. 

“I’m sure Sora won’t let something like this ever happen again. Will you, Sora?” Aerith leaned over and weaved a lilly into his hair before giving him a hug. 

“Oh, pretty. Thanks!” Sora touched the delicate pedals. 

“Can’t say I’ve been to many revival parties, but it seemed appropriate.” She twirled a lock of hair hanging over her shoulder. “It really is good to see you again.”

“Yeah, you too.” He smiled for maybe the hundredth time that evening. It wasn’t everyday so many of his friends got together in one place. 

That smile turned to a gasp when an arm snaked him into a headlock and knuckles dug into his scalp. “And just what the fuck do you think you were fucking doing, running off without using your damn spiky ass head? Can’t any of you kids sit down and think things over for one damn minute?!”

“Ok, ok I get it, I’m reckless!” Sora tried to squirm away from Cid’s noogie. “But I’m not going to be sorry for saving Kairi.”

Cid let him go and put his hands on his hips. “Ain’t askin’ ya not to save your girl, kid.”

“Well, that’s what it feels like.” Sora’s mouth twisted. 

“We just want you safe.” Cid brushed a fist under his nose. 

“Both of you,” Leon added, throwing a nod towards Kairi. 

“We didn’t mean to make it sound like she doesn’t matter.” Aerith clasped her hands in front of her chest. “We just really care about you, Sora, and we want to be there to help you however we can.”

“And a universe without you?” Yuffie shook her head. “Pretty depressing if you ask me.”

Sora sighed, shoulders falling. “I’m not planning on going past any points of no return, not when there are still people out there or right here that need my help!” He tried to muster up his regular bravado, hands on hips and chest out, but it felt thin and the eyes staring back him weren’t charmed. “I...got close this time...but I could still feel my connection to everyone’s hearts!” A lie. They’d severed him from that, but he knew it was still there, waiting to be won back. “So I knew no matter what happened, I would find a way out, like I always do!”

“Sora? What _did_ happen to you?” Cloud asked, brows furrowed. 

Sora rubbed the back of his head. “It’s this whole thing...” His other hand twirled in the air idly. “I don’t really want to ta-“

Three figures entered the sky. The skimmed across the ocean on strange gliding vehicles and had armor from head to toe. One almost seemed familiar to Sora, as if something from a dream, and another looked like that one who showed up to defend them from Terra’s possessed body, but Sora tensed at uncertainty of the situation. The shorter one of the group landed on the shore, his glider dissipating into light. He ran towards Sora who stepped back while his Radiant Garden friends stood at attention. But all parties relaxed when the running figure punched his shoulder, and the armor folded away into a pauldron, revealing Ventus. 

Sora felt a wash of deja vu at the sight, but Ven didn’t glare or grit his teeth. Instead, relief painted his face and tears already streaked his cheeks. He scrubbed his fist across his eyes as he ran, and crashed into Sora with almost as much force as Roxas’s punch. He hugged Sora with the strength of a trained warrior, but it felt like he squeezed a few pieces back in place. When he pulled back, he took Sora’s face in his hands and turned it every which way, scrutinizing the details as if looking for damage in a gesture that seemed more like it belonged to Aqua than a boy hardly an inch taller. 

Seeming satisfied, he nodded and straightened the flower he knocked askew. “I was really worried about you.”

Sora’s cheeks heated, unused to the open outpour of love and concern that had slowly drowned him in the past hour. It choked him with gratitude for so many caring friends, even if he wasn’t supposed to be tangled up in this anyway. It also squeezed his throat with guilt for the stricken look on his mother’s face, the tears in Kairi’s eyes, the shaking grasp of Riku’s hand in his shirt, Roxas’s knuckles against his cheek, the physical weight of Xion’s shells in his pocket, the relief in Donald and Goofy’s embrace. “Sorry,” He wheezed. 

“Don’t be sorry.” Ven squeezed his shoulder. “You were helping a friend. Can’t fault you for that. I’d be a hypocrite.”

Before Sora could even think to respond to that, Aqua appeared with Terra. She brushed a hand through Sora’s and smiled at him. 

“I was heartbroken to see you and your friends torn asunder. Riku was a mess without you or Kairi, and then they were both a mess together. I wish I’d been able to do more, to repay you two for helping me and my friends, but I’m so, so happy to see you all together again sooner than we,” she said. 

Terra rested big, warm hands on Sora’s shoulders. “I didn’t get a chance to thank you, before, for helping my friends, and me. I’m glad to finally get to formally meet such a true hero.”

Sora laughed nervously, “Haha, well...”

“Would it be alright if I hugged you?” Terra asked. 

“Absolutely,” Sora answered. No one had ever asked to hug him before, not that Sora cared if he was asked or not, he was always open to hugs, but Terra looked so relieved, as if Sora would say no. And Sora was very pleased he accepted said hug. Terra’s arms wrapped him in a firm hold that almost lifted his toes off the sand. It was as warm as his hands, and twice as comforting. “Wow this is nice,” Sora said Into Terra’s bicep. 

“Terra’s hugs are famous!” Ven laughed. 

“Yeah I can see why.”

Terra let go of Sora and ruffled his hair. 

Then there was a puff of smoke at Sora’s knees and when it cleared he stifled a squeal of glee and kneeled. “Chirithy!” 

“You know him?” the Keyblade wielders asked at the same time Chirithy asked, “You know them?”

“You got out!” Sora grinned ear to ear. 

Chirithy nodded. “Yeah, now you don’t have to visit me like some death wish idiot.”

“Aw cmon, you said I’d been there plenty of times!” Sora held his hands out. 

“By accident, in your sleep!” Chirithy’s nubby hands waved in the air. 

“Sorry to interrupt,” Aqua inserted, “but you know Chirithy?”

Sora nodded enthusiastically. “We met when...uhhhh,” he trailed off, unsure how appropriate it would be to talk about being dead an additional time, and everyone else being dead with him, “yknow, it’s a long story. But you guys know them?”

Ven scooped Chirithy up. “Apparently we knew each other...before.” His eyes unfocused a bit and he blinked the clarity back in. “I don’t remember, but my heart knows them, and I trust that.”

Sora’s jaw drops and his eyes bugged at the cat. “Ven’s _that friend?_ ”

“Yup,” Chirithy said. 

Sora laughed. “Small universe.”

—

Hours passed by. There were races, and sparring matches, and games of frisbee, and ice cream, and splashing in the waves. Through it all, Sora laughed and smiled like he was supposed to, he caught up with what he’d missed, and introduced friends who didn’t know each other, and he genuinely enjoyed himself, but a nervous energy buzzed at the back of his head. It grew louder as the sun inched closer to the water. 

He let himself get out first in a giant game Aqua taught them that involved slapping each other’s hands. Ninja? Yeah, that was it, Yuffie got excited about it. Retreating from the giant circle, he sat with his feet dangling off the dock. He watched all his friends joined together in one game. They’d all come to see him, to celebrate the air in his lungs and the beat of his heart. He thought about the mirror image sitting in his house, excluded, but no less miraculously alive. Something in him twisted. This party could’ve been for anyone. Sora just happened to stumble his way into war and tragedy and just happened to come out the other side with friends and words like “hero” and “sacrifice” bestowed on him. And what of Vanitas? He just happened to be wrenched out of Ventus and thrown into war and tragedy and just happened to come out the other side a cast out tool with enemies of the people who played innocent games now. 

Sora twirled the stem of the flower between his fingers. What if he’d been the one with inky hair and infected eyes? 

He turned his gaze on the steady churn of the ocean instead of his thoughts. 

“Hey.”

Sora startled, the lily falling from his grasp and swept out to sea. 

“Oh, sorry.” Ven settled next to Sora. 

“Don’t worry about, there’s plenty more where it came from. Why aren’t you out there?”

Ven eyed him. “You seemed troubled, sitting out here all by yourself. And I’ve never been good at Ninja anyway. What’s on your mind?”

Sora flopped back on the wood planks. “All of this is unfair.”

“Hm?”

Sora scrunched his eyes closed. He hadn’t meant to say that. “I...just...Xehanort-“ and the name tasted like acid on his tongue, and he didn’t miss the way Ven stiffened- “gets to control people, use them, manipulate them, and twist them, and we cut them down because we have to, because they’re leveling a weapon at our chests, because they’re part of a worse, terrifying whole, but they’re all just people still. They’re the path Riku could’ve taken, they’re Marluxia thanking me for clarity even as he fades, they’re the conviction that there’s no other way.” He turned on his side away from Ven, picking at a splintering curl of wood. “I just feel kinda gross about it I guess.”

“You can’t save everyone.”

“I know.” The shard of wood plucked free. “And I hate that. What makes some people salvageable, but not others? I was almost that. I was almost his. And what would’ve happened to me? Would I be saved and be home right now with my friends? Or would I be miasma?”

“I understand that fear. I was supposed to be a vessel.” Ven said, and Sora stopped himself from saying _you were._ “But even if you did get taken control of, we’d be able to save you. Just like Terra. Because you’re good, and so full of light, and there’s just no way you couldn’t come back to us. Not everyone can be pulled back from the brink.” His hand gripped Sora’s shoulder in what was probably meant to reassure. 

“I disagree. I think I’m just lucky to have grown up safe and comfortable and to have so many people to support me.”

“Sora? What’s this really about?” Ven’s voice wavered, uncertain. 

Sora sat up and locked their eyes. “Can I speak to you privately?”

Ven glanced at the group still out of earshot, deeply engaged in the game. “Aren’t we already?”

“More private than this.”

—

“Yes, and if you press that button right there, it’ll open the camera.”

“Oh! How nice!”

Vanitas watched Kumo toy with the device the man who introduced himself as Ienzo gave her. It was the same as the one Sora had. Ienzo had been remarkably polite. He’d startled at the sight of Vanitas squished into the corner of the couch, but then merely afforded him a greeting and moved on to showing Kumo the device that would allow her to keep contact with her son who would surely end up on further adventures. The scientist appeared to pose little threat, so Vanitas let his gaze return to the wall. 

Some time later, Sora’s head poked through the front door. He had his bottom lip trapped between his teeth, but released it at the sight of Vanitas. When his gaze landed on Ienzo, he sputtered. 

“Ienzo? You’re here?” 

The man in question whirled around, cheeks slightly pink. “Ah yes well...parties aren’t really my scene. And I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give your mother the gummi phone I’ve been working on for her.”

“Oh. Do you think you’re almost done? I’ve got some dramatic matters to attend to.”

Ienzo nodded. “Certainly.” To Kumo he said, “I’m sure Sora can help you with any further questions.” To Sore he said, “If you wouldn’t mind, can you come in and let Even and I have a look at you and uh...your guest too? Just to make sure there aren’t complications from whatever happened to you.”

Sora waved a hand. “Yeah, yeah, sure I’ll come in, just-“

“Yes, yes. It was good to see you.” Ienzo quickly excused himself from the house.

Sora locked eyes with Vanitas and jerked his thumb towards the outside, his head tugging that way as well. Vanitas rolled his eyes and shrugged. He hadn’t expected a warning anyway. He heard Sora say, “Don’t freak out,” and then Ventus was there. 

“Ta daa...” Sora’s voice fizzled out as Ventus dropped into a ready stance. 

“Sora-what?!” 

Vanitas remained on the sofa, but his muscles coiled, ready to jump up and counter anything his lesser half flung at him. He had to hold himself down on the cushion. His fingers itched to call Void Gear and clash metal on metal, and fighting Ventus felt like natural instinct, second nature. But he quashed down the impulse. It wouldn’t do him any good. Sora would stop him, and then Ventus’s friends would take him down, and succeeding wouldn’t do him any good either, he understood that now. Sora has already shown him that the old man had just _handed off_ the X-Blade like it meant nothing, like it was a trinket, not the thing he so violently sought after, not the thing the Vanitas fought and clawed for, like it wasn’t the one thing that was supposed to bring him respite. So what point did he have in fighting Ventus anyway?

Wayward Wind appeared in Ventus’s backwards grip. 

Then again, what point did he have in _not_ fighting Ventus? He could pour his pain into something that wouldn’t hurt to destroy, and it wasn’t like he had a plan going forward, so why not let Ventus’s loyal lackeys end it?

He pushed himself into hovering when Sora stepped in, arms open and back towards Vanitas. Vanitas sneered. He didn’t need a shield. 

“Whoa whoa! Hey! I didn’t bring you here so you two could wreck my living room and kill each other in front of my mom!” Sora shouted. “Put that away, Ven!”

“But you know he’s dangerous.”

“Yeah, and so are we. I left him here. With my mom.”

“And Ienzo!”

Sora waved his arms around. “Have you ever even seen Ienzo fight? I haven’t! And I didn’t tell him to come here! I’m trying to tell you there’s nothing to worry about.”

Vanitas stood and shoved Sora’s shoulder. “And I’m telling you, I don’t need you to defend me.”

Sora had the audacity to ignore him. “What happened to that speech you gave? In the Keyblade Graveyard?”

“He made a choice, Sora.”

“Hey!” Vanitas’s fists clenched at his sides. “‘He’ is right here! Am I not good enough for you to address anymore?”

Ventus leveled his glare directly at Vanitas, and after a moment, he said, “You’re eyes aren’t yellow anymore.”

Vanitas laughed. That was the first thing he had to say? “Tall, dark, and impressionable wasn’t Xehanort’s first chew toy, dumbass.”

“I thought yellow was just the influence of the darkness.”

Vanitas sputtered another laugh that ripped from his throat. “These are the eyes I was born with, you idiot! But you were too busy being a useless corpse to notice!”

“So...Xehanort...?”

Vanitas scoffed. “I don’t have to answer you.”

Ventus jaw tightened. “Fine. But what are you doing here.”

“Well I was having a lovely conversation about how Ms. Taiyō bakes cookies when that creepy kid from Radiant Garden interrupted.” Vanitas examined his covered nails. 

“You know what I meant.”

“And I said I don’t have to answer to you.”

Sora crossed his arms. “You’re the one who said to bring him here.”

“You’re the one who suggested it. I complied.” Vanitas hissed. 

“Well can I at least tell him what happened so you guys can step off each other’s throats?”

Vanitas threw up his hands. “Fine, fine! But I resent having to cough up a backstory on why I shouldn’t be thrown into a battle on sight.” He stalked over to the table where Kumo watched with wide eyes. 

“Actually I think you do after trying to kill me and my friends,” Ventus grumbled. 

“Logic must be an aspect of the darkness because first of all, _you_ tried to kill _us_ and you really are braindead if you think I was going to kill your precious little friends.” Vanitas turned back and jabbed a finger towards Ventus. 

“I saw you try to kill Aqua!” 

Vanitas cackled again. “I was bluffing. Terra was already needed alive to be a vessel, and Aqua was plan B. Can’t really control a dead heart. That’s why he threw you away.”

Sora cleared his throat. “Guys. Please.”

Vanitas shrugged and threw himself into the chair opposite of Kumo. He stared at the wood so he couldn’t see her look at him with accusing eyes. If she didn’t understand what kind of monster she let in her house before, she did now. 

He listened to Sora recount the tale of the two of them working together in Shibuya. He noticed how much emphasis Sora placed on the moments Vanitas stepped up and helped. He hadn’t been a good partner starting out, but in the end, they both got out because he understood the mutual benefit of working together. It was like being shackled at the feet. If they didn’t keep pace, they’d both eat dirt, so why did Sora talk about it like anything else? So what if Vanitas took some hits for Sora? It only made sense. Sora was a weakling. 

Vaguely Vanitas realized his hands trembled. Nausea curled in his stomach, sticky and viscous, and his blood pressed against the seal of his skin. He swallowed thickly and dug his nails into his palm so hard he felt them through his suit. He tried to stuff his emotions into a box of impassivity, but seeing Ventus there, self-righteous, perfect Ventus who he was supposed to make a truce with dredged up everything he’d shoved away since believing he’d made peace with while decaying place of his birth. 

How naive to think the universe was done toying with him. 

“You really aren’t planning anything?” Ventus’s voice cut through the fog. 

“Old man’s gone. How could I possibly have a plan for anything?” He spat. 

“You don’t have any goals?”

“Wonder Boy here has the X-Blade, and I never had any direction that wasn’t fed to me. So no. I don’t have anything but my Keyblade and the suit on my back. I’m not getting in the way of you or your stupid friends.”

Ventus nodded. “Alright. Then I won’t get in your way. But, if you change your mind-“

“You’ll gut me like a fish, got it.”

“That’s great and all,” Sora said, “but I was kind of hoping you could make it easier for him to be known without Aqua and Terra freaking out.”

“What? Like talk to them?” Ventus’s head cocked to the side. 

Sora shrugged helplessly. “I guess? We thought it was best to spread the news slowly, and that you deserved to know.”

Ventus worried his lip. “Yeah, I just... I need some time.”

“And I was also hoping you two could...well, not hug and make up, but I don’t know. Not hate each other?” 

“Maybe in time.”

Vanitas fogged out, not caring to hear whatever else the two of them said. He didn’t need Ventus’s approval or friendship, didn’t need anyone’s. This meeting went better than he’d have thought, considering they hadn’t fought, but it didn’t go how Sora hoped. It was a pipe dream, Vanitas thought, to think Ventus wouldn’t go on the defensive and fall back on previous experience, and to think Vanitas would knock down his walls for the sake of defending himself from his other half. Those walls defended something far more potent. 

He did hear the door close. 

Unbidden, he gagged, choking on the pent up frustration, envy, and fear. He shook with the effort to contain it within himself. Sora and Kumo’s voices floated on the boarder of his coherency, no doubt asking him if he was ok. Stupid question. Fingers wrapped around his wrist, entirely too warm, and he ripped his arm free unseeing and unwilling to let foolish empathy break his concentration. The force of it sent him out of his chair and tripping onto his knees. His hands pressed into the hardwood, the layer of his suit a disconnect. Sweat rolled down his cheeks but he swallowed back the vicious tar threatening to crawl up his throat. 

Still, from the growing shadow on the floor, a group of scrappers formed. Vanitas’s wrist flicked out, Void Gear materializing in hand. He swiped across, catching the still solidifying scrappers on the teeth of his blade. They crumpled in jagged halves. Vanitas clenched his teeth and yanked himself to his feet, shivering. 

He took in the twin looks on the Taiyōs faces. The wide, sky eyes, the jaws hung slack in opposition to his. “I don’t want to talk about it.” He grit out. 

Sora recovered first, dashing to stand in front of him before he could stalk to the door. “Hey man, take a breath.”

“Shove it.”

“It’ll make you feel better. Promise.”

Vanitas phases and landed behind Sora pulling open the front door and shutting it achingly soft behind him. He let his back hit the wall hard enough that they wouldn’t think he’d run wild into town or into the party and slid down. 

He watched the last fading rays of light dip below the neighborhood houses and took a deep breath.

**Author's Note:**

> He’ll come around eventually.


End file.
